“Hello reader, it’s me, the Editor, from Newsreel dating, i’m glad to talk to you here, i hope that we can get to know more …” Are you hooked?
Australian Federal Police hope you are not.
On a day earmarked for love, the AFP have released a real script used in a romance scam to raise awareness of the deception which cost Aussies $23.6 million last year. (READ THE FULL SCRIPT BELOW).
AFP Commander Cybercrime Operations Graeme Marshall said the AFP wanted to flip the script on romance scammers this Valentine’s Day by revealing real-life dialogue used to target the bank accounts, and hearts, of thousands of potential victims online.
Commander Marshall said the script was uncovered during an operation to bring down a scam compound in the Philippines and used to target thousands of Australians via online dating apps.
He said it was used by Philippines-based scammers to build fake romantic relationships with Australian victims they matched with on online dating apps.
“It includes a backstory, emotive and affectionate language, and a daily timeline to help the scammer engage and maintain conversation with the victim for up to seven days.”
Commander Marshall said it had prompted a call from the AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre, in partnership with the National Anti-Scam Centre, to urge members of the public to read the scam script and stay vigilant to fraudsters trawling online dating apps looking for victims to defraud.
He said as part of the fraud the scammer would portray a kind-hearted Filipino woman living in Australia or a local female resident in the Philippines, heartbroken by an ex-fiancé who wanted “my money, not my love”.
“They would subtly introduce cryptocurrency trading into the conversation as their side job, before framing it as a successful financial venture that helped them achieve significant wealth.
“The scammer would offer to teach the victim how to make a cryptocurrency investment of between AUD $300-$800.”
Commander Marshall said the fraudster would then ask the victim to transfer their funds from the legitimate cryptocurrency exchange platform to the scammer’s online crypto account and would continue to press the victim to make more investments of higher amounts.
He said more than 5000 Australians were notified by authorities via text message in January, 2025, that they were potential targets and urged not to send money to people they’d met online.
“We want to make sure everyone using dating apps has the tools and information to be safe online and to swipe left on romance scammers.
“Being deceived by someone online can have long-lasting financial and emotional effects. If something feels off, take a step back, and seek advice from a family member, friend or work colleague.”
Download: Operation FIRESTORM scammer script
